The EUROPIN Summer School on Drug Design 2021, organized every two years by the Pharmacoinformatics Research Group at the University of Vienna, was held online via Zoom from September 13th to 17th, 2021. This year we had an amazing number of 300 participants from all over the world, 40 recognized speakers and 22 hands-on workshops given by different software companies.
This summer school especially focused on students and professionals who have a clear interest in learning the basics as well as latest developments in Pharmacoinformatics. The program provided an overview on main approaches and techniques used in computational drug design, ranging from protein modeling, docking, pharmacophore based screening, up to machine learning, data science, and workflows. During the afternoon sessions the participants had the opportunity to obtain hands-on training via computational exercises.
The poster session, where 72 young scientists had the opportunity to present their research, was held in gather.town this year. Students presenting a poster or holding a short talk during the summer school and writing a 1-page abstract about their experiences and achievements accomplished during the summer school and how the school will impact their research are entitled to receive 4 ECTS points for the summer school course.
Another highlight of this year’s school was the career session, a panel discussion with panelists from different types of companies (University, Pharma, CRO, Software company) and in different career levels. Participants got an insight on how working in different types of companies is, about their career chances and how they can best prepare for interviews. After the panel discussion the young scientists had the chance for further questions and discussions with the panelists in break-out rooms.
Friday afternoon was dedicated to our young scientists who held either their progress reports or application talks for the EUROPIN program.
Despite the fact that this year's summer school had to take place online due to Covid19, we definitely didn‘t miss out on socialising and networking during the breaks and especially in the evenings by meeting in gather.town. Participants and speakers were able to virtually enjoy a cup of tea or coffee together after a day full of interesting lectures and exciting workshops. Since we were not be able to personally welcome our participants in Vienna this year, we provided a 30 min virtual city tour through Vienna with a professional tour guide in the evening of the first day.
The next Summer School on Drug Design will be held in September 2023 – then again in person in Vienna. We are looking forward to welcoming you then in our beautiful city! Stay updated by following our Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
